General

The price of getting sick

Two-thirds of Canadians favour patient rewards, penalties to cut costs

Fifty-nine per cent of Canadians feel that health care costs are cutting into funding for education, transportation and pension benefits, according to a new poll by Ipsos Reid for the Canadian Medical Association. It’s full of contradictions: Ninety-one per cent of participants said making the health care system more efficient and effective would reduce health care spending—but only 35 per cent of Canadians were confident that government and administrators could pull this off. And 66 per cent of Canadians surveyed supported implementing rewards and penalties to get people to live healthier—but only 47 per cent are confident this will lead to actual improvements. Forty-nine per cent of people said they would pay 10 per cent more in taxes if they were sure the money would go to health care. But 46 per cent said that patients should pay a portion of he cost of the medical care they get.

Canadian Medical Association

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